Daily Republican., 1887-08-24
DO " ERs' BEAuH,
PhIlAdelR' Ii Naxa

hao heard Tor years great stories
OF Del Awarc's Big Thursday at Bowers
beac a, but never realized how big
gay Big Thursday is to the Lower
u elawarean until last week, when
Sss one of the 10000 persons who Wis
lised the pretty secluded resort on the
Delaware Bay. Let me tell you about
lit. never saw such conglomerstion
lot character rs on that day Bowers
Beach is not much known outside of
the little State of Bayard, but every
body within radius of 25 miles feels
it duty to make visit to the pretty
beach once year, and that visit is
always made on Big Thursday. Just
why or how the second Thursday of
August is any bigger than the first,
third or fourth, or any other Thurs
Iday, in fact, no one knows. asked |
Ian old gray haired "Hecker' why. |
He replied: '.It's been Big Thursday
lsince kin member. an it's goin' to
keep on bein' just the same, I'spect
it's cause the farmers has got their
work done and cause Big Thursday
happens to come just then" Christ
mas won't compare with it in point of
interest to the Lower Delawarean,
whose prototype is the native of the
"Eastern Sbo'" of Maryland, and the
Fourth OF July is just nowhere.
The country people began to arrive
at Bowers Beach on Wednesday after
noon. They came in carriages of
!, both ancient and modern make, on
o foot on horseback, very often with
Imam and woman on the back of a
}, single animal, and in numerous yachts
Ifrom up and down and across the Del
n aware. Jones' creek, just north OF
1.-THE beach, and Mulderkill creek, just
=, at the southern end of the "half mile
lstretch," were jammed full of yachts
by sunset on Wednesday and at least
100 wagons from "'way back" were
0, standing on the beach. Each wagon
az brought six persons on an average.
4. They kept coming. At daybreak the
IS number had swelled to 200 teams.
m Why did they come 80 early? l asked
la solid-looking old corn cracker. He
4 said: "Why, to see the sun come up
out o. the water. Last year we didn't
Igit herein time. was bound an ben,
. on bein' on hand this year, so come
here last night"
epI The stream of carriages poured into
o. Bowers Beach all of Thursday, and
at 6 O'Clock in the evening l counted
GAO, and that wasn't half of them
rs Each wagon had big bundle of "fod
DER" the blades of cornstalks tied or
1.-The rear axle. The "fodder" was
.'ee drought along for the horses. Within
the wagons were boxes and baske t.
1f v,rinc; lis
chickens legs, for the people. Where
es; could all those chicken legs have conn
Ifrom? 1t did seem as II every man
o'e woman and child had chicken leg
Maybe the chickens of the Back For
'ys est" of Delaware have more than
pair Of legs each. l learned that da,
that it is very little Big Thursday in
deed when the ''Back Forester get
left at home. He is a character an
he apparently knows it. Guying ha
no effect, for he expects it. Laugh 9
Ind him and he broadly grins back; poir
him out and he will Dlankly stare an
ox' wonder what there is about him th'
makes him stand apart. There is 4
lip one particular thing. 1t is his who
oyh makeup. The young lady CHECKER
they are called Heckers because
10 their fondnesss for buckwheat-
We pretty, and shows off to much bett
advantage than her brother. l WI
Ipleased to note that fact.
The worst feature of the Big Thur
4 lday of which l am writing was Il
* lWilmington contingent. The w
mingtonians came down in two oyst
"pungies." In the Octavia we
seventeen policemen. Mayor Rhod
was also expected, but he didn't com
and few of his officers were prob
POI bly, glad of it. The majority of w
q, mington's policemen acted like ge
tlemen, but there were few exec
arm tions, and very glaring exceptions, tc
We have right to expect decency
least from the men who, when
home, are guardians of the peace, |
some of these Wilmington offic'
were even indecent when in the pr
ence of ladies'. The outrageous actit
of few cast disrepute on the VIII
force. am sorry to say l could
learn the names Of the officers W
ar. sre THUS disgraced Wilmingtons pol
VIII force. Even worse than the offic
a al was the Albert Bay Club. which nu
..a Ibered about score and was compol
tn. Imainly of toughs.
nan, They came in the ''pungy" LII
d., and when they rounded il
DR.. lJones' creek Wednesday evening /
, lhs three feet OF water in the hold besi
ampt numerous kegs of beer and big de-
lO-sM Johns, the contents of which the pa
= sampled with great freedom and
'CW quency. Just ahead of them came
,E E0,l lpretty sloop Dot, which was man
by an enterprising captain and
- women. The latter were OF the WI
~ TYPE. With the aid of half OF the
bert Bay Club members they mana
Ito make things lively for the resp
liable people of Bowers Beach u
L . lthey were driven away. Before
nhI, Iboats were properly ''laid of" ha
'"o'' dozen of the drunken toughs
leaped into the water and were sw
lining toward the Dot. Two or II
Doz. narrowly escaped drowning. 7
Doz. levening they took possession of
dance pavilion and drove all the
,s..n. spectacle ladies out. The propri'
Mr.. Wood, who formerly kept I
loon in this city, was finally comp
et. to drive them out. They were le
verely alone by the people on TT
j4.t day. From Philadelphia was
Iyacht Bessie, of the Quaker
IVA Yacht Club, which lay in Murde